


This Time Imperfect

by grayqueen



Category: Dark (TV 2017)
Genre: Dark, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Jonas Kahnwald deserves better, Noabeth - Freeform, Noah loves Elisabeth, POV Third Person, Post-Canon, Romance, Sad Jonas, The feels, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayqueen/pseuds/grayqueen
Summary: Jonas had been the first one to notice Noah and Elisabeth’s developing relationship. Sure, they were probably not an ordinary couple, but then again, who was Jonas to judge what was normal?
Relationships: Elisabeth Doppler/Noah | Hanno Tauber
Comments: 17
Kudos: 91





	This Time Imperfect

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic, at the time of the Apocalypse, Elisabeth was 10 years old and Noah 17.

**2026**

Jonas had been the first one to notice Noah and Elisabeth’s developing relationship. Sure, they probably were not an ordinary couple, but then again who was Jonas to judge what was normal?

His life had been anything, but ordinary, being time travel the least weird part of it, and he didn’t even want to think about the family drama and the liaisons. But he had watched through the years as Elisabeth and Hanno’s relationship changed and morphed into something he could only describe as sweet and caring.

It was something he had once thought that he would have with Martha one day. 

At first, their dynamic had been somewhat similar to one of a couple of siblings’ when Elisabeth had been younger. Although as years went by, that eventually changed.

Noah and Elisabeth were so natural together, he sometimes even felt like an outsider. A third wheel, Jonas and his friends used to call it when teenage crushes and the upcoming calculus test had been the worst of their problems.

Jonas could see that they cared deeply for each other. And although Noah rarely told him about it -he was too proud and sometimes too old-school to admit it-, he could see it in the little details.

Whenever the three of them went to town, Noah was always well aware of his surroundings, and particularly, he was also aware of Elisabeth’s location. Even when they went looking for exchanging goods for pieces of copper and other conductive metals, while she was on the other side of the exchange market, the older boy could still spot her easily by lifting his head over the makeshift tents or through the corner of his eye.

Most of the times, Elisabeth didn’t notice –Noah was very discrete about it– but when she did, Jonas always found it funny when she retaliated by hitting him playfully for it, and if she wasn’t in the best mood, she glared. Those times, Noah would always give her a fake innocent expression, or he would feign exaggerated ignorance as if he had been looking the other way all along, but the glint of his eyes, whenever he looked at her, was there. And it was pretty much only reserved for her because Jonas had yet to see him regard any other person with any other expression other than distrust or cold indifference.

Seriously, his friend was so whipped, and he didn’t even know it.

It kind of reminded Jonas of Magnus whenever Franziska walked past them between classes or when she called for everybody to shut up and pay attention in order to get ready for whatever school event they had been planning. In such situations, Jonas always used to give Magnus an amused look, in a similar way he did now with Noah.

Sometimes, he and Noah would take longer than Elisabeth did, as they looked around tent after tent for the items Claudia informed, they needed, and some other times it was Elisabeth who took longer.

One particular occasion, Elisabeth had taken too long to meet them at their usual meeting site, and when they had gone looking for her, they had found her arguing with the man who usually sold eggs and chickens. Although, ‘arguing’ hadn’t been the right word, but rather the man had been almost yelling at her to leave while she glared at him in anger. 

When he and Noah had approached, and the other had asked what the problem was, Elisabeth had explained to Noah the situation in fast movements. Jonas later came to realize that the problem had been that some of the eggs’ shells the man had given to her were dented, and that he wouldn’t replace them for other eggs, nor did he wanted to return the carrots and potatoes she had given in exchange.

As expected by no one, Noah had gotten so mad that a shouting match between the man and Noah started soon after.

It was not usual to see Noah angry.

Actually, Jonas had only seen him this angry once, and it had been the very first time they met back in 2023. So, the fact that Noah had gotten so mad so quickly, had come a bit as a surprise.

“Whatever problem you have, you tell it to me and you leave her alone, _verstehen_?” Hanno had pretty much snarled at the man in a very threatening tone, that Jonas would have taken very seriously had it been directed to him, but before things could escalate into a physical fight, he stepped in.

In the end, they got better eggs. And a clear message, to whoever thought that messing with Elisabeth would be easy, had been delivered.

However, from that point onwards, Jonas started to notice details between Noah and Elisabeth.

First, Noah was very protective of her, no matter how much he denied it to her. Elisabeth was right when she said that Noah was watchful of her. Also, whenever Elisabeth stayed behind at the cave, and he and Noah went scavenging, he always brought something to her. Be it a chocolate candy bar –which he always double-checked for holes or tears– books or something he thought Elisabeth would like or find it useful.

Second, it was not a one-way thing. Elisabeth cared just as much for Noah. On one memorable occasion, when they had taken much longer than expected with the experiments designed by Claudia Tiedemann trying to stabilize the God Particle, Jonas and he had run into Elisabeth on their way back. At first, Jonas thought they were about to get robbed.

Nobody went near the nuclear plant anymore. The radiation levels in the surrounding area were higher than safety levels. And, although they were not as high as they were at the interior, where the God particle was, Jonas never liked the way the clicking sound of their Geiger counters always raised whenever they got near.

He had talked about it with Claudia before, and she had said that, while the radiation was slightly higher than normal, they didn't need to wear the protective gear outside the plant, but that she didn’t recommend them to linger around the perimeter either since long exposure could be harmful.

Jonas had been sure to let Noah know about it as well. The other didn’t like Claudia much, and he was sometimes skeptical of what the woman said, but regardless of that, Jonas knew that she was right. After all, there was no denying that the woman was an expert in the field of nuclear energy. So Jonas had been sure to explain Noah how a Geiger counter worked and he had made it very clear that when the calm clicking sound turned into a violent sound, similar to static, it meant that levels of radiation in the area were high and that he had to move the fuck away as soon as he could.

That was one of the reasons why Noah didn’t particularly like it when Elisabeth went with them because, even with the gear on, Noah had understood rather well that this was one thing he couldn’t protect her from 

So it had been a surprise when they noticed Elisabeth approaching. 

She hadn’t been using a lantern, but when they had recognized a shadow in the woods Jonas and Noah had been instantly alert. Jonas had been lighting the way, and when they realized it was Elisabeth, both relaxed noticeably.

He turned to Noah as the other man moved his arms in her direction as he also asked out loud,

“What are you doing here?!” His tone was one of surprise as he signed to her,

Elisabeth answered in quick movements and a reproachful look.

Jonas knew some sign language. Elisabeth had been teaching him some with the help of Noah, but he was nowhere near Noah’s level. He couldn’t carry a fast conversation with Elisabeth as they did, and he often got a sign wrong which most of the time made Elisabeth laugh at him. 

“I didn’t know we were going to take so long,” Noah explained, “I’m sorry I worried you, but wandering alone at night is not the best of the ideas,”

Jonas had a pretty good idea of what was going on now, and he kind of found it amusing that Noah was justifying himself to her in a way he never did it to Jonas and certainly not to Claudia.

“We were at the plant, but next time we take this long, I’m ditching those two, let’s go home for now,” Noah said and Elisabeth nodded satisfied.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she sneaked one of hers around his middle. Elisabeth was taller now her head reaching Noah’s chin now, and they looked well that way.

They accompanied Jonas to his bunker, and they wished him goodnight before starting to make their way to the cabin which was a ten-minute walk away.

* * *

**2027**

“How were the dates like before the apocalypse?” Noah had asked Jonas out of the blue as they rummaged around an abandoned house in search of batteries for their Geiger counters.

“What?” Jonas asked eloquently, taken outback as he turned to look at the other man with surprise. 

“As in courting?” Noah elaborated, 

Cultural clashes with Noah were always funny. Sometimes, it was like listening and old man in a much younger looking man, or also like talking to someone who had lived in a cave all his life… which in a way he had.

Differences between the 1920s and 2020s were strikingly obvious. Having been in both times, Jonas had a vague idea of the lifestyle in the 2020s so he could understand Noah’s awe for the modern way of living.

“Okay. First, it’s not called that anymore, and second, I think dates in 2020 were pretty much as before, you know, going to the movies and dinner afterward, maybe also doing funny things," 

“Hmmm,” Noah had hummed as he took both batteries from the tv remote, pocketed them into one of the pockets of his black cargo pants, and then discarded the remote.

“Although there was also Tinder,” Jonas said thoughtfully,

“What’s a tinder?”

“It was a dating app,” Jonas said before adding, “with it you could meet girls, talk to them, and if you found each other okay, then you could go on a date,” he said, “although most of the people used it for casual sex,” the man explained.

Noah did not comment on the sex part. While it was still strange to him, Jonas and Elisabeth had explained at length that in 2020 people’s mindset in regards to sexuality, and relationships were much more liberal than in the ’90s. Noah had been impressed by that, but he had never been as conservative to find it scandalizing. He could understand that times changed and it was certainly not in his place to judge. Actually, he liked the idea of people being allowed to do as they wished without the burden of others' opinions.

“Right, and girls... liked that?” Hanno asked, and this time Jonas smirked at him.

“You’re finally putting on the moves on Elisabeth?” He asked, and Noah hesitated before answering. 

“Well, actually, I think she beat me to it, I just want to do something nice for her…” Hanno admitted.

"Okay, forget about tinder then, how did you usually date in the ’90s?” Jonas asked.

“I didn’t date,” he said simply, “but dinner to the local restaurant or going on a picnic near the lake was pretty common,”

“You didn’t date?” Jonas asked with surprise. 

“No. There were other things to do, my time was pretty much spent digging the tunnels, and attending the inn” Hanno explained.

Among the things Jonas appreciated about Noah and the 90’s lifestyle was probably hard work. While in the '20s teen’s life had been, in most cases, reduced to school and friends, in the '90s they were pretty much adults that helped with much harder house chores and providing.

“So, you never had a girlfriend?” the younger asked, and Noah looked away,

He hesitated for a second before answering him. 

“There was this girl waitressing at the local restaurant… Our relationship was short-lived and it had been all physical… not romantic,” he explained shortly.

Jonas could understand that as well. Hormones were a deal no matter the year.

“Right, so dinner or picnics. I think both are still pretty much acceptable for the 2020’s,”

“I don’t think I can do any, given our conditions,” Noah said thoughtfully.

“I think you have done both,” Jonas chuckled. 

Which was true. He and Elisabeth had dinner together every day. Sometimes, even out of the cabin as well when the weather was particularly nice. Most often than not breakfast and lunch as well, though that depended pretty much on the day’s activities.

The point was that they lived together, of course, they ate together.

“I mean wouldn’t it be nice something different?”

“You both enjoy your time together, don’t you?” Jonas asked.

“Obviously. Well, at least I do, but I don’t know if she does,” Hanno answered,

“She does, _mein freund_ ,” Jonas smirked, “I didn’t know her that much before the apocalypse, but if there is one thing I know is that Elisabeth Doppler, as Franziska, was not one to hide her dislike for others,”

Hanno could totally agree with that. Elisabeth could be sometimes mean when it came to people she didn’t seem to like, although there were not many people they knew aside from Jonas and Claudia.

“Alright, fine, what if I want to give her something special then?”

“Like what? Bring her again plastic flowers like those you found at Regina’s Tiedemann house the last time we went there?” Jonas asked amusedly, “I’m pretty sure you have been dating, _courting_ , since a while now,” he mocked, and Noah’s eyes widened slightly,

“Those weren’t… _oh_ ,”

“Yeah _oh,_ ” Jonas almost laughed, “don’t worry though, maybe she was as oblivious as you, just let her know the next time, and keep doing whatever you two have been doing, just make it official,”

Jonas smiled at the other young man and Noah slapped him brotherly like, before agreeing and returning his attention back to the search for other things they could use.

Jonas had to look away as well and did his best to ignore the pang of jealously and sadness.

He really felt happy for them, but he also couldn’t help feeling slightly envious.

Jonas had come to realize, that even with a broken heart and the numbness, one could still feel.

* * *

**2029**

It had been Jonas who helped Noah get the ring.

It was a plain band of gold, which Noah had to clean with a mixture of reagents for it to shine again, but it was a nice piece of jewelry Noah had found at one of the long-raided stores of the only small mall in Winden.

Jonas smiled at Noah and he took it to inspect it, getting his rounded lantern near to it to get a better look. 

The piece of gold reminded Jonas a bit of his mother’s own modest one.

“Will it fit?” Jonas asked as he gave it back to Noah,

“I think…” Noah said as he inspected it more closely.

“Well, now you’re only missing the registrar,” Jonas had joked.

Law and other legal processes were completely irrelevant now. So, Noah’s marriage to Elisabeth would only be in word only, with him and Claudia as the only attendants to the little celebration.

Elisabeth wanted the other woman there as well, and while Noah didn’t love the idea, there were very few times he could say no to her, and that was certainly not one of them.

In Jonas' opinion, they were pretty much married already, but there were very few celebrations they still maintained, and Jonas liked to spend time with the two of them. Therefore, an afternoon spent eating and drinking around the campfire next to the cabin with his only two friends was always a nice way to spend the time. 

A couple of months after finding the ring, and a few days before the celebration night, Jonas found out during a small talk that the woman that usually sold clothes and other trinkets at the market had used to work at the Winden’s Standesamnt.

He had been surprised at that, and he had hypothetically her asked what would someone need to get married.

The woman had laughed at him, but she had explained about the paperwork such processes used to require.

Jonas knew that neither Elisabeth nor Noah had the papers needed. Nobody in the town did, nor did they care about it, but he had also asked if she could serve as an official registrar. The woman answered that hypothetically she could. 

In the end. They celebrated Hanno and Elisabeth’s modest wedding under a nice summer night with a rusty, but quite official, certificate. Which had been signed by five different people: the couple, two witnesses, and an ex-official registrar.

Frau Liebrenz had left early after making the ordeal, and Claudia stayed longer, but eventually, she also excused herself.

A couple of hours later, after laughing at anecdotes and stories of their previous lives, Jonas hugged them both. He congratulated them one last time and gave them their wedding present before leaving as well. 

It was a polaroid instant camera.

**Author's Note:**

> On the first fic, I almost didn’t include Jonas because I kind of wanted to write something from his perspective. Also, his character is so well performed it still hits me with all the sad feels so I made a fanfic out of them.
> 
> This was shorter than the last fic, but I think it was also better written. I hope you had enjoyed it!
> 
> Go and say hi at my Tumblr: grayish95


End file.
